ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of a 17-year-old male student who is brought to the Emergency Department after being punched from the side in a boxing match. The basic principles of Advanced Trauma Life Support should be applied when dealing with this patient. Major injuries to rule out include cervical spine fractures or ligamentous injuries, intracranial bleeding and blunt cerebrovascular injuries. The patient should be advised to avoid contact or collision sports until further evaluation and clearance by a concussion specialist. A history of multiple concussions, each with progressively longer recovery times, should prompt warning to the patient that further injury could lead to substantially greater morbidity and mortality. In this case, with a negative computed tomography scan, the patient should be discharged, provided there is someone on hand to supervise him at home, with both written and verbal instructions of the normal symptoms of concussion and red flags such as increased drowsiness, seizures, focal neurology and ongoing vomiting.
